Browser Error Messages

All browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, and others have browser error messages appearing at one time or another. These messages are called https status codes, and come out whenever some error occurs when loading a web page. Most errors are indicated by a three-digit number code. These number help to pinpoint where the specific problem came from. The error codes that begin with the number 4 are client errors, or those that occur on your end.

Error Message: 400 means “Bad Request.” This simply means your request has been denied because the typed address does not exist, it has moved or changed address, or there was a mistake in typing letters, numbers, or signs. You’d want to make sure you left no spaces in your address. Also double check if your browser’s advanced setting is set to https 1.1 or higher. The older browsers do not have this enabled.

Error Message: 401 for “Unauthorized”, or 403 for “Forbidden.” You may have tried to access an encrypted website or a site that’s password-protected, or you typed in a wrong password. Try to upgrade your internet browser, and security tools, then enter website you know. Check that the password you enter is correct, then try entering the problem site once more.

Error Message: 404 “File not Found” or 410 for “Gone.” If you have an old address, or the website has moved addresses, you definitely cannot access those. If your typing is correct, but the same message appears after another try, then the file must be gone. The 410 Gone message simply means that the once who maintains the website you were wanting to access, has moved the file, removed it, or directed it to another webpage. Some webmasters redirect surfers to where they have moved the file.

For Error Messages that begin with the number 5, these are coming from the Internet Service Provider (ISP) or the actual site stored on the server.

Error Message: “500 Internal Server Error.” This just means the web server encountered an error. Often, the ISP or the page you need is going through some technical problems, the site may be having maintenance at the time, or it is overloaded from so many users at one time. These are often temporary, and if you attempt after some 10-15 minutes, you’ll find you can now access what you couldn’t earlier. When the problem persists for longer than a few hours, however, you can alert your web hosting provider. I have written in full details about these error 500 errors here.

Error Message: “505 https Version Not Supported.” The server here does not support the version of the https protocol being used for the request. This is often the case when an older version of the internet browser is used, so the need to update it to be able to work with the site.

Error Message: “509 Bandwidth Limit Exceeded.” A temporary error, this message is hardly seen. It simply means you have run out of space to save your file, especially for large photo and file storage files. These sites allow you only so much space to save data, and you are exceeding your space. You can then pay for more space as needed. Note that today’s more advanced anti-virus, firewalls, and spy ware could also get in the way of your internet surfs. This is often because there are built in privacy settings that could strip your browser requests of information you also need. That is why you receive the error message.

Garen Arnold has 10+ years of web development experience. WordPress is used for all the sites he has developed and worked on. He has written 100's of articles on WordPress, SEO, social media, and has reviewed lots of hosts.